Hannah Back from Ghana
Hannah Tricks has spent part of her gap year in the town of Brenu teaching at a school and visiting cocoa farms to see firsthand the advantages of Fairtrade to Ghanaian farmers.
Hannah visited the community at KuKofu which has been part of the Kuapa Kokoo Fairtrade Co-operative for around five years. In Ghanian terms, the farm she visited was quite large for, with a site covering more than 20 acres. It produces 100 bags of cocoa beans every two weeks during harvest time which is between November and June.
The farm supplies cocoa for Fairtrade chocolate bars, drinks, cakes and other products which means the farmers receive more income than they used to. This Fairtrade premium is paid to the community and has been invested for the good of the community into the provision of schools for the more remote villages, palm oil plantations, a women's group and a 'grasscutter' (small rodents farmed for food by the locals) farm.
Hannah said: "My guide Eric showed me some of the various stages of cocoa harvesting, like the cutting down of the pods from the trees, the fermenting on the forest floor and the drying, turning and sorting on racks in the village.
"At the end of my tour I was given 1kg of dried chocolate beans. My guide assured me that any flies had been taken out, because as he said, 'You white folk don't like flies in your chocolate!'.
"It was a fantastic and rewarding experience. I lived in a small fishing village a short walk from a palm-lined beach on the Cape Coast. Most school days I taught phonics for one and a half hours to a group of mostly eight year old pupils, although the class included children from five to ten.
"Then after a maths lesson with the regular teacher, I would take it in turns with the teacher to do games, songs and crafts with the children. There were very few issues with behaviour and the kids were fantastic. I will treasure many memories of my trip to Ghana, including a canoe trip through the mangroves, sleeping in the jungle, being chased by an elephant, going on a canopy walk in the rainforest and swimming under the biggest waterfall in West Africa."
Hannah is due to study Geography at Durham University in September. She will continue to campaign for Fairtrade there and hopes to use her experience to gain a better understanding of world development issues.
Hannah added: "I would like to thank all those who helped with my visit, including Eric the guide, Chesham High, the school in Brenu, the Sabre Charitable Trust, Paul and Bea Wood from Chesham who themselves own a cocoa farm in Ghana and Chesham's Fairtrade group."
Published: 4 July 2009